


Last Moments of Barry Allen

by LittleMissZatanna



Category: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Fandom, DCU, The Flash - All Media Types, The Sandman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28691856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissZatanna/pseuds/LittleMissZatanna
Summary: Following his death during Crisis On Infinite Earths, Barry Allen is confronted by Death herself.
Kudos: 5





	Last Moments of Barry Allen

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first non-Harley Quinn based story and I like to think it turned out pretty well. Hope you enjoy. It's different from my usual output but I enjoyed writing it.

"Th-there's always hope… There is always hope…" Barry felt himself wasting away but he would not allow his legs to slow down. "Time to save the world!" He could feel his costume coming loose around him. "Time… Back in time…" His vision became a blur. But the crackling noises and intense heat told him that the Anti-Monitor's machine was close to destruction. "Do what you have to… We must save the world… We must save the world…"

In an instant it all became blackness. No sound, no sights, no sensations. But the mind of Barry Allen was still there. He felt a cold wind sweeping over him and suddenly a faint but persistent ringing in his ears. His eyes slowly flickered open and he saw a desolate landscape of jagged metal before him. After several moments, Barry realized he was standing in what remained of the Anti-Monitor's machine.

"I… I did it…" Barry looked around in complete shock. Not only at the fact that he had destroyed the machine but also that he had survived. "I'm alive… I'm alive..." He looked around in shock and relief. By all accounts he felt that he should be dead. There was no way his body could have withstood all the strain he put it under. It felt too good to be true. "I… I'm alive!" All Barry could do was repeat this to himself, still in shock at this fact.

"'Fraid you aren't, Barry."

A feminine voice echoed from somewhere near him. Barry turned around and saw someone standing a few yards away for him. As far as he knew the Anti-Monitor had just left and the only other person left here was the unconscious body of Psycho-Pirate. The young woman had skin as pale as the keys of a piano and long hair as black as ink. She was clothed in a pair of tight leather pants and a tank top just as black as her hair. Around her neck was a necklace that had an emblem of an Egyptian ankh on it.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Flash managed to respond. "Who are you?"

"Me?" the girl took a few steps forward towards Barry. "I'm Death."

"What?" Barry stared at her in disbelief. "Where did you come from? What are you doing here?"

"It's like I said, you died." the girl casually walked towards Barry and put a hand on his shoulder. "You pushed yourself too hard and now you're dead."

Barry looked around and there he saw it. His bright red suit, now empty, pinned to the ground under some rubble. "That's- That's me. Or… What's left of me." He stared for a few moments trying to take it all in. "So wait, I'm dead?"

"That's right. You died saving the multiverse."

"And you're Death?"

"The one and only."

"Oh god…" Barry had all sorts of new information to absorb as he looked back and forth between the pale woman and the remains of his Flash suit.

"Walk with me, Barry. We're going now." Death turned around and gestured for Barry to come with her.

He stared for several more moments before speeding up to get alongside Death. "Wait, if I'm dead then what's going on? How can I still be here."

"Well, you're not in your body anymore." Death did her best to explain. "It's more like… Your soul, I suppose."

"I still can't believe it. There's no way back from this one, huh?" Barry glanced at Death.

"'Fraid not." Death shook her head. "Some people have come back some way or another. But for now, this is where your story ends."

"But what about all my friends? My family? My whole world?" Barry pulled down the hood of his costume to let himself, or whatever was left of him, breathe some more. "It isn't fair."

"Life rarely is." Death said. "People often die suddenly, tragically and pointlessly. But I come to collect them all the same."

"It sounds like a tough job." Barry looked behind him momentarily to see his empty costume lying on the ground.

"I've had a long time to get used to it." Death said. "Dying is a hard thing to get used to, but you'll have to adjust quickly."

"So what happens left? Heaven? Purgatory? What?"

"You know… I'm not quite sure where each soul ends up. You'll just have to find out for yourself."

Barry kept walking alongside the mysterious girl as he felt overcome with a sudden sense of peace. He may have been dead but he knew that he'd died saving the world. And even though he wouldn't be there to see the end of the Anti-Monitor, he knew that he'd made enough of a difference for his friends, family and allies to live on to see a new day.


End file.
